Military Archive Survey

Archives are a great way to research topics of interest pertaining to historical events and people of interest from the past. Depending on how extensive the archives are, they can truly help any aspiring researcher or historian to discover a new angle or new story within the countless archives and microfiches. Some archives do not possess variety. Some do. Some even have excellent and varied online access. The site used for this assignment is the Civil War Archives: http://www.archives.gov/research/military/civil-war/.

These archivers belong to a much larger grouping of archives concerning American history. They have many online links and online information easily in view. The website itself is easy to navigate for the user. Everything has references so research can pinpoint where the information originated. The documents come from a series of areas such as the Union and Confederate army. Archives from this topic of interest come from Lee D.

Bacon's "Civil War and Later Navy Personnel Records at the National Archives, 1861-1924" along with other civil war era archives involving African-American sailors which are available online at a site called "Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. Many of the records specifically for the Union come from three major records, "(1) compiled military service record (CMSR); (2) pension application file; and (3) records reproduced in microfilm publication M594, Compiled Records Showing Service of Military Units in Volunteer Union Organizations (225 rolls)" (Archives.gov, 2015). It is essentially the same for the Confederate records.

Pictures from the Civil War era also have online access. People can request microfiches by calling in and making an appointment in one of their locations. However, a lot of it exists within an online database. Many topics have cross-referencing, referring to an outside website. Everything has links embedded for easy access to the other websites. The scope of the archives cover the entirety of the Civil War with the exception of the regular army.

They even have several hundred women referenced within the archives as well as African-Americans that participated in the American Civil War. They give a list of useful publications for people to research in relation to Civil War battle strategies, social and political context, and even how uniforms looks during the Civil War era. They also include basic records. Some of these basic records are CMSRs or Compiled Military Service Records; they have pension records, even a record of events.

They also give the direct address to find archives only available in person. "You may do research in Civil War military service and pension files in person at the National Archives Building, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001" (Archives.gov, 2015). As mentioned earlier, there are some sections of cross-referencing. The webpage displayed embedded links as well as mentioning other websites. They also provided additional references, a list of references and other publications. 2 The way things are organized, the website splits into various sections.

The initial page has topics and then has links for those topics. If things resources are not available online, the website states where to get the archives and how to get them. They layout appears easy to navigate with few interruptions in terms of confusion or not understanding where things are or lead to. The website also hosts a "top of page" feature. This feature allows the person to go all the way to the top for easy navigation. 3. The kind of documents the website have come in various forms.

The first prominent link and section are Civil War photographs. The Civil War Records consists of a broad overview that includes where to locate them and much more. The webpage also contains Navy and Civil War personnel records and even an article in a magazine. More documents consist of where Civil War veterans' soldiers were buried. They also mention some buried in Mexico. The section contains links for Civil War draft records that also have an article in Prologue magazine.

They have Civil War Court-Marital case files for the side of the Union. Along with the Court-Marital case files, there are also compiled service records. Some of the cross-referencing sections include things like an online exhibit hall. Below that are disabled veterans home case files dating from 1888 to 1933. On the side of the Confederate army, they also have pension records and articles in Prologue magazine. There is a vast difference in archive availability. The Union side has more documents and links. The Confederate side does not. 4.

Some sample questions to use based on the evidence seen on the website would consist of uniforms of soldiers. What materials did the soldiers of the Union and if possible, the Confederates wore during the battles and why were those materials chosen? Another would be what kind of women participated in the Civil War and what were there jobs? Several hundred women participated in the Civil War.

It would be interesting to find out the positions they took whether they pretended to be soldiers or worked as medical personnel, these questions present an interesting thing to discover through research. Another concerns the African-American involvement in the Civil War. For instance, how did the Union African-American soldiers feel when in battle and how did the Confederate African-American soldiers feel? The South forced a lot of the slave population to work for them during the Civil War. Even freemen were used as black soldiers.

It would be a truly enlightening experience to discover what it was like for them and what propelled them to make their decisions. One last thing to ponder over is why were soldiers buried in Mexico during the Civil War? This is clearly something that researchers and historians do not often discuss. It is only one.